Remnant in Ashes
by NightLocker
Summary: The city of Remnant has been ruled by the Four for as long as anyone can remember. Ruby Rose, Yang Xaio-Long, Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna are a fresh team in the Valian Beacon Gang and they are in no way ready for what is coming. Remnant is burning, and it's burning from the inside out. Gang AU. Be sure to read Author Notes at end. Slow Bumbleby, implied/slow white rose.
1. Chapter 1

"Winner! Yang Xaio-Long!" The head judge stood between the two raising her gloved hand and prompting them to shake hands. Applause arose from the spectators as they bowed out of the ring and sat down. After a few breaths, handshakes and the occasional congratulations, the head judge returned. "Yang Xaio-Long, Mercury Black and Arslan Altan follow me, please." He indicated for them to follow as he turned and walked away towards the award podiums.

Turning and grabbing a microphone, he cleared his throat quickly before speaking; "We have results of our adult black belt spar! In third place, Arslan Altan! In second place, Mercury Black! And our winner, Yang Xaio-Long!" One by one, the called hopped up onto their podium before turning and receiving their medal.

Yang turned and shook Arslan's hand whose grip was firm, almost too firm for a tournament bout. "Congratulations." Yang said swiftly, only for the other girl to reply with a tight lipped, "you too." Turning to Mercury his hand was almost too lax. "Good spar." She said, with as wide of a smile as she could. Which wasn't too hard, gold medals had that effect.

"Yea, you did good. Next time won't be like that, trust me." Mercury said with a voice of cheer. Absolutely a challenge. Hell yes.

"Ohhh, next time it'll still be like that, trust me." She felt like she was on clouds, no way was any of his chatter going to be bringing her down.

"Yang!" A flurry of red appeared before her as Ruby pulled her down and squeezed. "Oooh you're just so cool you know that?! You're-so-good-at-this-why-is-that-do-you-have-any-idea-whyyyy?" The last sentence falling out in a jumble, making Yang chuckle before looking at her.

"I'll tell you if you can tell me how come my little sister is like four times faster than me."

"You know that answer!" Indignant pout.

"Well, you know mine." Yang replied, fussing a few strands of hair a top Ruby's head. "Where's dad and the others?"

Letting out a small huff before returning a smile, Ruby replied. "Dad just had to use the washroom after your match and Blake and Weiss are waiting at our seats." Nudging her elder half sister, she prodded further. "Why? Got a hot date already? Maybe that silver haired dude you fought?"

"Ha," Yang rolled her eyes, "yea, right. As hot as he may be, I'm more focused on going home and getting some grub. It's been a long tournament." Indeed it had been. They usually started at ten, that was eight hours ago. She'd had lunch but that was it. Not to mention, their team had an assignment tonight.

Blake approached them, her white trench coat just skimming her ankles. Yang knew underneath the coat was her sheathed weapon. Her bow keeping her ears hidden twitched, undoubtedly scanning the room. Weiss was very much on edge as well, looking at the walls, probably seeking for cameras or unwelcome eyes.

Both of them made up for some of the most unusual people who were part of the Valian Beacon Gang. Blake wasn't a criminal growing up, unlike the other three who were raised in it. Blake was in fact the ex-Police Chief's daughter. It wasn't entirely known what happened to the former Chief, but when Blake had approached the Valian Beacon's, she was welcomed.

Weiss, she was another story. While raised in the gangs, she was no native to the Valian Beacon Gang. In fact she was part of the Mantle of Atlas gang, or MOA. And to top it off, her father is a Councilman for Mantle of Atlas. A filthy rich gang, they only got richer through the selling of their biggest product, Dust. Dust doubles in use, either as a drug, a very, very dangerous drug, or it could be used for weapon enhancements. When used as a drug, it was immensely addictive. Hell, it was such a widely used product that the other three gangs bought Dust from Mantle of Atlas.

"Would you two stop scoping out the place for the other Three? This is a place of combat, to launch an attack on anyone here is suicide." Yang waved her hand around the room, highlighting the dozens of black belts, never mind the hundreds of students, displaying the variety of rank by belt and uniform. Everyone that competed had one, ranging from white belt to ninth degree black belt. Yang herself carried a second degree black belt, aiming to test soon for her third degree. Ruby didn't train as much in hand to hand as Yang, for reason of her semblance. She trained with speed though, and shit, she could run circles around anyone. She also had some insane free-running ability. Blake could practically melt into the background of anything, becoming damn near invisible. Weiss, realistically was one of the most valuable members of Beacon if Yang had to say. She was an assault force of one, with her semblance.

Strong arms squished Yang and Ruby together as Tai, Yang and Ruby's father, appeared. "Held up well there! You had that other guy done quick." He commented at Yang, although his eyes told another remark.

The grin that had been growing vanished from her lips. "You noticed something." What would it be? A scolding? Another lesson of some kind? The veteran gang member had a sharp eye. If he caught something wrong with Yang's approach, he would let her know. Always.

He pursed his lips before responding. "It... it seemed like the boy was scoping you out."

Relief flooded her. "Please, who wouldn't, I'm hot as fire, no shame if sweet cheeks was checking this out." Glamorously, Yang gestured at herself.

"Good try hot-head." Releasing the two, Tai backed up. "He was definitely studying your moves."

"He did challenge me for the next tournament."

"Oh? That must be it." Tai seemed content with that answer.

Ruby huffed as Blake's stomach growled and Weiss checked her watch. "Dad, can we go now? We got an assignment tonight, and we need food." She looked around. "Plus I really should be doing prep for Crescent Rose."

Of course. Only Ruby would need to check her scythe for the ninth time before their, realistically, minor assignment. "Alright, then get to the van, we're right behind you." Ruby turned towards the exit and lead the group toward their vehicle to head back to the Gang headquarters.

"It's a patrol Ruby." Blake said.

"It's still important!"

Fair enough.

As Yang sat in the back of the van, with Ruby in between her and Blake, she watched the towering structures of the city zip by. Undoubtedly, they were heading back to their little portion of the Beacon home base, a large uniquely built warehouse with three spires in the middle of it. It expanded underground to help house the notorious members of the gang, including the Xaio Long family. It had been nicknamed 'Patch,' their little cozy home. Weiss and Blake split housing while Ruby stayed with Yang and Tai.

When they arrived, it was a quiet little stroll into the warehouse and down into the housing. Tai's scroll went off at one point, where he apologized and explained that Beacon's Gang Lord, Ozpin, was waiting for him. From there the four girls set on their way to Ruby and Yang's housing. Once they had whipped together some food, they all sat around the table each flicking through their scrolls. Then they switched to the television, skimming channels, never really settling on a show. Before long, Ruby got up and headed to her room, undoubtedly to do her final clean of Crescent Rose before their took their shift. Soon after that, Tai returned, carrying extra supplies to stock their home with. "Yang, check this out."

Yang kicked up off the couch and walked over to the counter, looking into the crate her dad had put down. "Wow." She let out a whistle. "That's a lot of Dust. Whats this for?"

Tai let out a deep breath. "Your teams assignment has been...adjusted, more or less. Where's Ruby? She's the Team Elect, she needs to know this. Ruby!" He called.

"Whats up?" Ruby walked out of the hallway behind him. "Wow, that's a lot of Dust." Blake and Weiss approached from behind, noticing the large amount of Mantle of Atlas product.

"This," Tai grasped the crate of packaged dust, "this is your upgraded assignment. You're each to take three blocks of Dust. Normally, we don't bother with the small gangs, but there is a small group calling themselves the Ashes of Tomorrow, totally a bunch of chumps." He grasped a block tossing it up and catching it again. "Oz normally wouldn't take out a small group, but these boys haven't just meddled in our business, they've meddled in the whole of the Four."

"What?!" All four girls exclaimed. That was sheer stupid. They were taking on the Four Gangs of Remnant? Absurd, the number of those gangs combined were thousands. "If they're that dumb, they must be _dying_ to get themselves killed." Yang mumbled, a grin sneaking its way to her lips. Weiss was the only one who reacted with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Tai could only nod, "Indeed, a very stupid thing. Except they have successfully irritated every Gang Lord. Enough that all four pitched in for this explosive type Dust, specifically for the decimation and utter destruction of the Ashes. So, each of you will take three packs of Dust, then you will destroy their home base in anyway you see fit. Kill any seekers, watchers, anyone who gets in your way."

"Anyone?" Blake narrowed her eyes, asking for clarification of their permission.

"Within reason." Tai nodded. "Yes, if a civilian is to interfere with the police, stop it." He leveled with her, knowing where she was coming from. Being a cop's daughter, the lesson to protect the innocent still held a solid grip. Without a doubt, Blake did not want to kill an innocent. Really, it was a feeling that all four girls shared, but Blake showed the most hesitation.

Tai continued. "Find core building supports, additional stockpiles of explosives, cars, gas, anything and blow it to hell. That is what Ozpin has ordered from you." His words were hollow sounding, his fatherly expressiveness forced aside as he passed on a mission to his daughters to kill and destroy a gang.

Ruby had inherited the same gift, or curse, as her father. The ability to push aside emotion when giving or receiving a command was something that she'd demonstrated a few times. Yang had told the other two that it had to be absolutely nuts of a order to get Ruby to refuse. "Tell Lord Ozpin we'll be back late tonight."

Tai nodded and watched as the girls then got their gear together, loaded, and concealed. "Good luck and be careful." He addressed the group before holding the door open for them, locking eyes with each of them, a little longer they lingered on his daughters.

Heading through the halls of the underground of the the 'Beacon' that marked the Valian Beacon Gang, Ruby lead her team, each of them carrying their load of explosive Dust. As they walked through the relatively colorless halls, seemingly painted a greyish-green. Ahead of them, another team of familiar faces rounded a corner. Nicknamed JNPR, it was lead by Team Elect Jaune Arc. Hands down one of the most ineffective gang members in solo combat, but he knew how direct his team who were quite lethal in combat.

"Hey guys, heading out on patrol?" The muscle of JNPR, a girl named Nora asked. The girl hit like war hammer with her fists, never mind the actual war hammer she wielded.

Yang shook her head from behind Ruby. "Nah, our mission was changed. We're cleaning up some trash."

Ruby scoffed. "Sweeping up ashes."

"Burying the filth." Blake chimed from the rear.

"Giving some fools the punishment they deserve." Weiss stated, not losing stride with the rest of her team.

Pyrrha looked at the four. "A strike?" It was surprising. Fresh teams rarely got strike missions, most of the time they were the patrol crews. "Ozpin has a target?" Another thing almost unheard of. Ozpin is an amazing strategist, a brutal fighter but not one to strike first.

"Some idiots have been stirring trouble, not just with us, but with all of the Four," Weiss answered, "We're being sent out to end their interference." With that, Yang reached into her pouch and pulled out one of the large explosive Dust bricks. Grinning she tossed it to a stunned Ren.

"Shiiii-!" Jaune exclaimed at the red material. "You're just carrying that stuff around?" He asked astonished. Such a dangerous substance was normally kept under lock and key, for safety reasons.

Yang shifted her weight and rest her hands on her hips. "Yea, like Blake said, we're burying the filth."

Ren cocked an eyebrow, weighing the Dust in his hands. "You each have Dust?" To which the remaining three exposed their own blocks. "You're really going to turn them into ashes." He stated, handing the brick back to Yang, who took it and placed it back into her pouch.

Finally, Ruby was the one to respond. "It's what happens when you not only mess with Beacon, but all of the Four." She shrugged before starting her walk again. "You will die."

The rest of RWBY nodded at JNPR before following their Team Elect. Jaune headed back to their crew room, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora falling in line behind him. "Good luck guys!" Nora gave one last shout before closing the door behind her.

Weiss gave a little 'hmph,' under the impression that getting wishes of good luck had to be over played. They were ready for this. Weiss' swordsmanship was unparalleled so far. "So, Ruby, whats your plan?" She asked as they stepped into the elevator. "Full frontal assault? Recon and stealth? Stealth followed up with assault?" She listed the variety on her fingers, each one from a tactic Ruby had taken on before.

Ruby turned and pressed the button for the main floor. "I was thinking recon, then stealth to plant charges, then make it all go to heck in a hand basket." The elevator doors slid shut with little sound and they began their ascent.

"No civilians." Blake whispered. "Absolutely none."

Yang pitied Blake from the side of the elevator where she was leaning against. The Faunus girl had been adopted by the police chief, a human, as a sign of good intentions to the Faunus community and did his best to raise her like a normal person. But when he disappeared, Blake vanished to the gangs. What came with her was a respect for the innocent and the ones who didn't get involved. She, in reality, had never killed a civilian. And she intended to keep it that way. "Blake..." She sighed.

"We'll do our best, Blake." Ruby responded, looking over her shoulder back at the Faunus. "That means we all have to keep the Dust hidden, along with out weapons." She looked at the other two members. "Only pull the dust out when you've found your targets."

"How are we doing the detonation?" The doors chimed as Yang asked her question. Sliding open, the doors revealed the rather intricate and detailed interior of the main floor that was part of the gang's Beacon warehouse.

Ruby began the stride to the front gates of the compound before answering. "That's where the assault kicks in. These aren't wired for remote detonation and it's too short of notice to do so. This needs to be done now, so use your range attacks to detonate the packages." She spun and began walking backwards, hands clasped behind her back. "So beeeecarefullll." She sang, a smile on her lips before spinning back around again.

The Ashes had placed themselves several blocks away from every one of the Four, effectively putting them close to the center of the city of Remnant. It also never left them anywhere to run should the Four attack in union.

The Ashes really didn't think anything through. Yang couldn't believe it, Weiss was baffled by the strategic stupidity so badly her head hurt, Blake just hummed, and Ruby was looking forward to some snack after the job.

They now stood a block away from the target building. Ruby had a map of the surrounding area out and began pointing out corners. "Yang, take the south west corner, Blake go for the south east. I'll be north east and Weiss is north west. Get as deep as you can into the foundations and core supports of the building." She folded up the map before beginning her walk to her strike zone. "Once one of ours goes off, a chain reaction is sure to happen. Do not fire a shot at the Dust until we all confirm we are outside." She waved her scroll. "remember, recon the best way in, stealth and infiltration, then send it all up in flames." Turning she gave them one more grin. "I'll see you guys for a snack and movie tonight." Suddenly, all that remain was a trail of petals.

By the time Blake looked at her other teammates, Yang had ran off the edge of the building, plummeting to the ground and Weiss had launched herself off with her glyph's. Reaching underneath her own trench coat, she fingered Gambol Shroud. Settling any thoughts aside she shadow stepped off the roof, slowing her descent slightly. Hitting the ground running, she headed to her own strike zone like her team mates.

 **AN: This is my latest project. I've got the next ten or so chapters lined up, and will be uploading chapters in a pace that will keep me at 10 chapters a head so I may review, edit and add to this story in every way I can manage. This was a fairly quick dive into what this world holds, I can agree, but do not worry, plot building is coming.**

 **HEADS UP: This story will get DARKER. This story will feature death. This story will feature versions of the main characters that we are not familiar with, ones that will kill another person.**

 **I haven't seen a whole lot for unique AU's for RWBY that were written in a way that seemed well thought out with details people wouldn't normally consider, so I'd like to try doing one myself as a challenge. So if there are any questions, please PLEASE send in something, a review, a pm, anything, so I can seek out away to clarify any misconceptions that you may have about this world I have.**

 **With all said and done, please enjoy Remnant in Ashes. We have a journey ahead.**


	2. Chapter 2

At the north-east corner Ruby looked at the building, seeing a lone guard standing in front of a low basement window. Armed or not, he held nothing in his hands. Looking up and down the side streets, she saw Weiss and Blake scouting out their separate regions. There was on additional guard in between Ruby and Weiss, one that Ruby would deal with shortly. Reaching into her belt pouch, Ruby unhinged her smaller tool, more ideal for tight spaces.

Little Rose was a modified Karambit knife, with a remodeled handle to be more similar to Crescent Rose. In exchange for the size difference, the ability to shoot was removed. Little Rose was entirely for dash kills. So that's what Ruby did. Dashing forward, she suddenly was in front of the man, knife already clean through his jugular and laid out flat, bleeding. Petals fluttered down onto his bleeding body as she made her dash to the guard between her and Weiss.

Stopping behind him, she clamped a hand over his mouth as she stabbed into his lungs, preventing and scream before spinning him around and cutting his throat as well. She turned and crawled through the basement window, entering the compound.

Weiss arrived on the roof of the compound and used a speed glyph to dash forward and pierce the guard's heart. Pulling her blade out, she spun the cylinder on Myrtenaster, falling upon Ice. Striking forward she froze the other guard as the body of the first hit the floor. She then launched the now frozen man into the air and off the building, to the pavement below.

She wiped the blade on the body still on the roof before making her way to the hatch of the roof access. She took a look around before popping the lid and dropping into a empty room.

Blake's entrance had been easy. She had scaled to the second floor window, before using glass cutters and climbing in. Sure, there had been a guard here and there but with a shadow step here, a shadow step there, it was no problem neutralizing any threat to being detected. Blake observed the room she'd climbed into. Empty, not surprisingly, as it had no lights on when she'd picked the window. Walking through the room, ears listening, she began her search for the main support of the building. Finding nothing in this room, she cracked the door into the hallway, just as a man dressed in a white coat walked past, making her freeze her motion.

"Damn. Whether you hire a guy or recruit a guy, some how someone always screws up." He spun a object in his hand, what it was Blake couldn't pick out. Listening closely she heard other steps accompanying the man in the white coat.

She couldn't risk closing the door out of the chance they would see it close or they would notice the noise, anything. She opted to leave it cracked and tucked herself away. From there she held her breath, heart pounding, and listened to the feet pass, along with the voice of the mumbling man.

Creaking the door open, she looked into the hallway, checking that it was clear before she quietly crossed to the nearest door to the other side, and opened that one quickly, getting inside and closing it softly.

The light was on. People were present. Three to be exact. "Uh, you a recruit?"

 _Acting. Right._ Turning to face them, Blake gave a small smirk. "Just passed the initiation." Every gang had one, every single one. Even Valian Beacon Gang.

One guy got up and approached Blake, a fair build, only thing that really stuck out about him was the long scar that carried its way from his left ear to his nose. "If you're looking to get the patch for the gang, its the next room." He extended his hand. "Welcome to the Ashes."

Blake extended her hand. "Thank you." Clasping his in hers, she felt a difference. She didn't need to look, nor would she allow herself to. "Tiger?"

"Jaguar." He gave a small grin. Normal teeth. His give away was his claws. She felt them in the grip. "Which are you?"

Reaching up, she untied her bow. "Panther." Her silky black ears shined as the ribbon fell free, and she studied his face.

It scrunched. He with drew his hand before looking to the others and started walking towards them. "Hey, guys, panther here," he sounded like he was beginning a introduction. "She's neww." He said stretching out the word, all too much sounding like something was up. That's when Blake vanished. Behind each of the other two, one was what appeared to be a lizard Faunus, the other looked to be a normal human. Their hearts were pierced by both Blake and the clone as they acted in unison. Both Gambol Shroud's sliced through their target as both sharpened sheaths simultaneously cut through the neck of the Jaguar. She'd found what she was looking for when Jaguar had turned his back.

The main support was in this room. Sheathing Gambol Shroud as she crossed the room to the four foot in diameter pillar. Drawing out a brick of her explosive, she reached up to the electrical access panel that carried cords through the support to the building. She popped the door open, placing one brick inside.

One down, two to go. She tied her bow back into her hair quickly. She couldn't risk meeting another person.

There was a side door, on that had to lead to another support. A spare support. Maybe it was only the exterior walls left. She reached the door and twisted the knob before pushing it open. _Maybe-_ Immediately Blake reached up to her ear piece. "I know we said silence but these guys have a massive stock pile of Dust, Ruby. We blow this place, there will be massive destruction." _People could die._

" _Blake, use it to our advantage. What kind of dust did you say it was?"_

"It's yellow Dust." _Shit. That much of a electrical surge would fry circuits all over a massive radius._ "Its enough to black out a four block radius. That's hundreds of people, thousands."

" _That's a job for Remnant's electricians, Blake, injuries will happen, but it'll be on my conscious. Put that brick down."_

Sighing, Blake pulled a singular brick out, placing it in the center of the room before back tracking to the room she crawled into. Placing her last charge in the center of the room, not doubting that when it would go off, it would blow out the roof, floor and walls all around. "Guy's, I'm placed, backing out now." Just as silently as she slipped in, Blake slipped out.

Yang figured the other girls would take more complicated methods of entering. Ruby would use her speed undoubtedly. Weiss, who knows, she was on top floor duty. Roof would be ideal for that. Blake was the crews master assassin practically, always reading about Ninja's. Although, a different type of Ninja than most would assume.

So Blake probably took some through the window tactic. Not much other choice being on the middle floor. Yang preferred a more direct method though.

"Hey, you boy's wouldn't happen to know where Junior's is would you?" Yang approached the two men, some what abashed, Ember Celica in bracelet form. "I'm late to meeting some friends, any help would be appreciated." She shyly toed the ground with her boot. "Like, seriously late."

One guy pulled the cigar out of his mouth before skipping down the steps. "Hm," he waved his cigar down the road. "Good choice, killer music there." He pointed now with his finger, a mere foot away from Yang. "Down two blocks, hang a right, then another three. It'll be on your left." He looked at her again, before pulling his glasses down the bridge of his nose a little. "And if you're there later tonight, maybe I can buy you a drink." He gave a little wink.

Yang let out a laugh. "Oh, really? You know Junior at all, by a chance?"

"I sure do!" He pushed the glasses back up, as his partner let out a sound of 'pffffff' of disbelief.

"Bullshit, don't listen to him, lady."

Glasses swung around quickly. "Oi, shut yer trap. I've been employed longer than you." Turning back to Yang. "Junior took me on a while ago, a bouncer of sorts." He grinned. "Why?"

"Oh, well, then can you pass something on for me to the big guy?" Yang touched his chest with her left hand.

"Anything."

"Blondie says hello." Her right fist swung, planting into his chest so hard he flew into his partner at the top of the stairs. In a heart beat, Yang got to the top of the stairs before cracking the partner in the head again. They didn't need to die. They had a message to deliver after all. That is if they survived the blast.

Yang walked into the back door of the building and peaked through the second door into the main area. She saw that the main support actually divided into four pillars for the first floor, for open space purpose. If she had to guess, the basement had the four revert back into the singular. "I may only have three explosives, but that is more than enough to blow these fellas." She grinned, indescribably pleased with herself. Flipping open her pouch, she began pulling out the explosives, somewhat disappointed the main floor was relatively empty. "Guys, I'll be headed out in thirty seconds. Blake, I'll meet you on the roof."

" _Got it."_

Weiss had placed her explosives, one was on the main pillar like all the other had done. Her final two, those were more intricately place. There was a security room on the top floor. After freezing everyone solid in there, she left them with the Dust. The second one rested in a weapons storage, sure to make use of the gun powder that was in all of those bullets.

Climbing back up the ladder to the roof, she looked around. Something just felt off. But she couldn't quite place it. "I'm done as well. I'm headed over. It'll all on you, Ruby."

" _Got it. I just have one more."_

Ruby did indeed only have one more. She'd placed hers at the furnaces and water boilers, the pressure inside the boiler would be immensely helpful to pushing the explosion out even further. She just couldn't quite find the main-

"Someone is here." A relatively smooth voice spoke aloud, calm. Almost...amused.

"What are you talking about?" A more tired voice pitched in. The massive basement was relatively open, with a few rooms here and there. There was a cluster of four rooms, towards the center but she looked in three of them unless...unless the walls of the room were the supports. Of course! Concrete walls would be strong enough at a industrial grad to provide the support, and with them being what had to be a foot thick, it all made sense!

"I said, someone is in here."A slap resounded. "What, are you deaf? Go find them. The air isn't right." A pair of foot steps separated themselves from the voice, now in search of Ruby.

Luckily, she was just a hop, skip and leap away from the four rooms. It was just around the corner. Peeking around, it was clear, Ruby sneaked into the fourth and final room, closing the door silently. "Blake, be ready to make a shot on your dust. They know someone is down here." She whispered.

" _Sure thing, be careful Ruby."_

" _Don't die on our first mission Ruby."_

" _Don't screw it up you dolt."_

Focusing on the task at hand, she pulled out the final brick, placing it in the corner of the room where the four rooms intersect, against the ceiling.

The door opened behind her. "Well, hello there little Red."

Ruby kicked her semblance into high gear, swinging low, catching the man in the white coat in his valuables before shoving him down and away. She sprinted full out for her entry window. Rounding a corner she withdrew Crescent Rose, swinging at a nearby small concrete pillar, smashing right through it. She sprinted, hopped onto the blade aimed and fired her rifle into the ground, propelling her forward through her entry window. On the street, she used her semblance once more, running up the building to the roof where Yang, Blake and Weiss awaited.

"Blake, now's the time!" Ruby said hurriedly.

Blake spun up Gambol Shroud, the blade folding back as she took aim. Then she squeezed the trigger.

The explosion acted exactly as they wanted. The highly unstable explosive type dust created a chain, spreading from floor to floor both upwards and downwards as Blake's ignited Weiss' to blow the roof off the building, causing debris to fly. Windows shattered downwards as Yangs ignited, leading to Ruby's in the basement. After a couple seconds the team watched as the building quickly folded in on itself, flattening to the ground. In the midst of it all, the room of yellow Dust shot electricity at any nearby metal objects, poles, cars, railings, electrical units and circuits. Immediately, every building in a large radius went dark as everything fried and breakers surged.

"Good work team." Ruby looked at the pile of concrete, mangled re-bar and worthless trash, occasionally shooting sparks. "Lets get going." She began walking towards the back of the roof to start the trek back home.

"You know," a calm voice called out, "it's really rather rude to not even say hello back, little Red."

Crescent Rose was up in a flash and the report of a high caliber round being fired echoed, immediately followed by a light clinking noise.

"Also rude to cut someone off." The man with the white coat walked onto the roof. "But, I suppose this is the kind of reaction to get after you work to undermine the Four isn't that right?"

"Fuckin' right." Yang spat, guard coming up, Ember Celica sliding into place. Gambol Shroud and Myrtenaster extended as well, in their wielders hands at the ready.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Roman-"

"Torchwick." Blake cut him off.

Sighing he re-adjusted his bowler hat. "Is it too much to ask not to be cut off at every attempt I make to speak?" He leaned against his cane. "I do have a message for you to deliver, tell dear old Ozpin to keep his ears open, and his eyes even more so." He puffed the cigar in his mouth. "Little girls shouldn't get involved in this. But," he waved his hand, "tell Beacon to sit back and enjoy the ride." He grinned wickedly, excitedly and with a hungry look in his eye. "'Cause this isn't over."

"Oh," Yang chuckled, taking a step forward, "I'm fairly sure it is." Yang sprang forward, just as the image of a girl with pink and brown hair with white streaks appeared. As Yang's fist impacted Roman, the two new comers shattered like fragile glass, revealing neither were present. "What?" Yang looked at the broken glass at her feet. "What the hell is this? Where did they go?"

The girls could only look around in confusion, as the survivor and the mysterious girl seemed to have vanished. Before anyone else could speak, Weiss looked at Blake.

" _Blake_." Everyone recognized the tone. It was seething. It made Yang's arms lock and fists clench, it made Ruby reach and grip her cloak, and finally made Blake's ears tense and her eyes locked on to Weiss, muscles firm. "How do you know him?"


	3. Chapter 3 Fighting a Cold Breeze

**A more confrontational chapter. Thank you all for your feedback. I will not be posting the bee shots, sorry, I will be doing my damnedest to finish this. And for that to happen I do need feed back/encouragement. Fire away PM's to remind me, bicker in my ear, because I do check my notifications daily.**

 **And at this rate, if I had to guess, I have at least another 60-80k words to write. At least. Buckle up and get comfortable because this will not be fast.**

"...Yes, Weiss?" She held her breath.

"You know who he is." Not a question. Statement. Fact. Truth.

"...I know of him, enough to recognize his face." Everyone was evaluating the words being exchanged. Blake's words rang with truth. And fear. Blake was suddenly scared, and RWBY was picking up on it.

Weiss stepped forward, sheathing Myrtenaster. "How is that?" Curious. Slightly suspicious?

Blake rolled her index fingers over her thumbs before clenching her fists. "From before I was in the gang." Firm. Truth. Shaking, scared. Increasingly.

Yang opened her mouth before closing it, thinking. Ruby was analyzing as well, deciding when she should step in, or if it was necessary at all. Blake might have something useful.

"Blake." Ruby said in a hushed tone. "We don't care how you might know him-"

" _I_ do." Weiss interrupted, facing her leader. "We don't know much about her past, she's been our team mate for a year already and we hardly know her." She began counting on her hand. "We know her birthday, her name, how she ended up with the Gang, how she fights, some of her habits. But, we don't know what circumstances pushed her to coming to the Gang. More importantly," she raised a finger to the sky, "we don't know what happened to her father."

Silence stretched across the group. Then Yang scoffed, eyes flaring, alternating from lilac to red hot cherries. "You know, that's almost comical coming from you, snow flake."

Weiss glared at the blonde over her shoulder before facing her. "Excuse me?" The befuddlement that someone _dared_ to mention her ties to Mantle of Atlas was visible.

"You heard me, damn it." Yang marched up before the smaller, platinum blond girl. "We know your name, your father, your birthday, where you came from, how you fight, and some of your habits. But we also don't know what circumstances pushed you to coming to the Valian Beacon Gang, nor do we know why you hate your father so much." Red was flickering across the lilac eyes, showing the breaking point was close.

"Yang, Weiss, stop." Ruby had taken a seat on an air conditioning unit during their little spat. "You both make points."

"Please, you can't really be believing-" Weiss started, only to be cut off by the younger girl.

"Weiss." The Team Elect locked eyes with the fencer. "Enough." Her eyes shifted to Blake. "We said we'd talk eventually. Yes or no, are you ready?"

Blake stood still for a moment, hugging herself. Eventually she shook her head. "Not yet. I will say this though." She took a deep breath. "I didn't ever talk to him or meet him face to face. I only heard about him. He's a crime lord for hire of a sorts. That's all there really is to know of the guy."

Ruby looked at Weiss. "That won't satisfy you, but it'll suffice for now, right." No room for argument. The Team Elect was not leaving room for any debate.

Weiss backed away, nodding her head and crossing her arms, giving in to some authority. If only for the time being. "Weiss." A gentle voice emerged from Blake. "I do hope you can still rely on me." Blake's eyes were downcast, she was clutching at her left arm. She was terrified.

Weiss stood still for a few moments before sighing and walking over to Blake, extending her hand. "It'll do for now as I said. We'll still fight side by side, regardless."

Blake had known that Weiss hadn't quite clicked with the Faunus. Hell, Weiss finding out Blake was a Faunus came with a period of adjustment. But, it wasn't entirely unexpected. The Mantle of Atlas was not known for its Faunus members. In fact, it's use of Faunus was quite known as ruthless as they exploited the race as testers for their product batches. Dozens of Faunus have been found in MOA territory, destroyed or not, they had all died from Dust related overdoses.

So, Blake had always settled for the next best thing with the girl. Partnership. They could work together. Yang may be her official training partner, but Weiss had agreed to work on their cooperation just as Blake had. So, Blake would settle again. She shook Weiss' hand.

"Status of the operation?"

The team now stood in the grand office of Gang Lord Ozpin. The silver haired man was kind, wise and nurturing. Before them, stood the man himself, asking them the question.

As Team Elect, it was Ruby's duty to answer and represent the team. Stepping forward, the red streaked, raven haired girl stood infront of the large polished redwood desk. It was trimmed with a olive green on its sharpest of edges, with the VBG emblazoned on the front in the same green. Ruby replied; "Successful. The building destroyed, The group destroyed with it."

The brown eyes locked onto the young leader. "There was a large power outage."

"There was a large supply of yellow Dust, a side effect, but not a unwelcome one. It provided good cover."

He tilted his head. "Any survivors?"

Ruby hesitated. "One."

"And?" Ozpin waited, emotionless on his face. If anything he was curious.

"He escaped us." Ruby half awaited a disappointed response, half waited for a the-

"Oh well." Ozpin sat back.

A shuffle was audible to Blake, standing next to Weiss. A fidget in the hands behind her back, the sucking in of breath. She was increasingly agitated. _From what?_

"The Ashes are destroyed, dispersed. It won't matter." He arched his finger tips into each other. "Good job."

"Sir, I do believe it's worth mentioning," Weiss added, earning a look from each member of the team, "the man who escaped was identified as Roman Torchwick."

Ozpin popped a brow at that. "Oh? He was hired by the Ashes was he?"

"Indeed, sir." Ruby answered before Weiss could. "He actually mentioned to pass on a message. He said that it wasn't over and to watch for 'Her,' whoever this 'Her' is."

With this message conveyed, Ozpins eyes read of wheels turning suddenly at a high rate. Amazingly his body language conveyed a relaxed posture. "I see. Hm. You're dismissed girls. Tomorrow is off as well." He waved them towards the elevator. "Also, keep clear of that area for the next week."

"Will do Lord Ozpin." Ruby gave a slight bow, before turning and marching towards the elevator, team in step.

Upon the doors of the elevator closing, Yang looked at Ruby and Weiss, feeling some tension and irritation. Blake felt it too, and shuffled closer to Yang, feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

"Say it." Yang said aloud. And hell broke loose.

"You had no right to disrespect my authority like that!"

"You shouldn't be hiding information from the Gang Lord!"

"I wasn't hiding! I was about to mention it to him! Your stuck up and impatient attitude was unacceptable! It was a movement of usurping intent, and I will not tolerate that, Weiss!"

"My impatience? Please, coming from the girl who complains and begs if a sweet is in the room that she's not allowed to have."

Ruby pointed her finger at the older girl. "Do not change the subject, Weiss. We are talking about your rebellious and almost mutinous actions!" They walked out of the elevator, immediately down the stairs towards their rooms. Ripping the doors opened, Weiss, Blake and Yang followed Ruby through, revealing the hallway to the housing. "If you're done with this _shitty attitude,"_ Ruby emphasized, "that would be helpful. I have the feeling that Ozpin will be calling us shortly, and having inner conflict will get us all killed. So, _Heiress_ ," Ruby addressed the older girl with the hated title. "If you feel like being able to work as a team again, and listening and respecting your superiors, I'll see you tomorrow." With that Ruby opened her door, walking in and slamming it shut. Weiss in turn stormed down the hall to another room and opened her split housing with Blake.

Yang and Blake meanwhile, had hung back about ten feet, watching it unfold. "Wow." Blake could only say. "Not many people have the leading spirit your sister has."

"You can say that again. She sure as hell didn't get it from dad." Yang chuckled. "Summer was a great leader." They stopped outside Yang and Ruby's room. "Ruby really misses her, I really do too."

Blake wrapped an arm around Yang's shoulders, pulling her in for a side hug. "I know the feeling. My real parents were great. I mean my adopted-dad was great too..." She drifted off, biting her lip and looking down.

Yang sighed. "We all have people we miss. People that we wish were still here, people that we wish had never left. And sometimes, we wish there were people that we never had to meet." She pulled Blake in for a proper hug. "Night, Blake." She gave the Faunus a squeeze. "Now, to fall asleep to some good old mew-sic." Blake could feel the shit eating grin on the blonde's face.

"I hate you."

"Love you too."

"Night, Yang."

"See you tomorrow, Blake."

Ruby lay on her bed when she noticed Yang propped against the door frame. "What is it, Yang?" The younger sister sighed, clearly exhausted. "Are you here to lecture me?"

A curt laugh erupted from Yang. "You kidding? Nah, I got your back, Weiss still has some superiority issues, that's no secret. Pretty sure that's why Ozpin put her on our team." The blond threw her weight into her step away from the wall, walking towards the younger sister. "But, I am wondering how you're doing. You've not been one to kill needlessly. And I'm not saying today was needlessly," Yang started as she saw Ruby begin to object. "I'm saying for someone who doesn't kill usually that you seem to be handling it well. You've only killed what, three times before this?"

Ruby leaned back into the bed, nodding. "Three before. Now, its probably at seven. I gave the order too, so everyone's death in the building would add up to something of twenty." She stared at the ceiling. "Some eighteen year old I am, right."

Yang looked at her sister. "These gang's may be violent, but the alternative isn't better." She looked away. "Oum has some messed up parts for a planet, Ruby. The Ashes aren't what I'm talking about either. Being victim to the Fang is way worse."

The White Fang. The fifth large party of Remnant. They were a gang of sorts. They used to be a peaceful organization that were for equal rights for the Faunus. Something changed in the group a few years back, whether it was a new leader or a change in tactics, it was a drastic change. Peaceful protests eventually stopped, replaced with violent crimes and organized killings. They became a symbol to fear while also making the Faunus hated more by the racists. While not nearly as big as the other four, they proved to be rather tough. They never had worked against the gangs as much as they had worked against the city of Remnant. But, the fact remained that they were disturbing the balance in the city, the balance the Four have been balancing precariously for years.

They had not gone unnoticed and Yang was positive it wouldn't be long before the Four worked together again to end the presence of the White Fang.

"Those assholes don't realize they're making things worse for them and the rest of the Faunus. Mantle Of Atlas tightened their grip on their Faunus workers after the White Fang picked up weapons." Ruby huffed, turning her nose into her pillow. "I don't want to talk about this anymore, Yang. I'm going to sleep."

"Not going to change?" Yang asked, looking at the fully dressed teenager. "You've even still got your cloak on."

"I'll change when you leave."

Chuckling, Yang leaned forward, kissing her younger sister on the temple before getting up and walking towards the door. "Night, Ruby."

"Night, Yang."

Blake entered her own room, only to see a glass fly to the wall to her far left. "Damn it all!" The voice of an enraged Weiss emerged. _Oh, this will be fun._ Blake sighed before beginning her walk to the bathroom to shower. _First the little spat with Weiss and me on the roof, then that one between her and Ruby. Mine and hers was more predictable, I think, since Weiss should have known better than to disturb the chain of command like that._ She reached the bathroom door and opened it, a creak of the hinge giver away her presence.

"Blake?"

Blake sighed. "Yes?" She opened the door the rest of the way, walking in and turning on the shower to warm up the water. "What is it, Weiss."

"Can you believe that?" The voice got closer. "That was too far. 'Shitty attitude,' please. She's got a stick up her...- arggh!" A glyph appeared, sending shards of ice into the concrete wall that separated their room from team JNPR's. "Usurping intent? Mutinous actions? I'm not trying to establish myself as the Team Elect, that's not how it works-"

"Then why did you break the chain?" Blake cut in.

Weiss sputtered. "Well, b-because she wasn't saying anything! It was critical information that she was going to leave out!"

"You've been on the team as long as I have, Weiss." Blake said. "We've reported bombing plots before. You think Ruby has forgotten to mention schemers to Ozpin?" She reached into the shower as she talked, testing the waters heat.

Weiss stood in the doorway. "Well, no, but she wasn't even trying to tell him!" She threw her hand towards the front door. "'Successful, building destroyed, enemies destroyed with it' blah, blah, blah.' No attempt to even mention the man who escaped!"

"Roman Torchw-"

"Roman Torchwick, yes I got it!"

"But we had only been reporting for a total of like two minutes, if that. You hardly gave her time."

"It had to mentioned-"

"By the Team Elect, Weiss." The water was now steaming. The bow over the ears came undone as Blake began stripping down. "Not you." Amber eyes leveled with iced blue eyes. "She called you Heiress, connecting you to your past as the daughter of the leader of the Mantle of Atlas. Did that position come with entitlement? I'm sure it did." Reaching towards the door, she said one last thing. "Think about it. Because there sure is no entitlement here. What you get is what you earned." Blake shut the door before taking everything off, leaving Weiss to her thoughts, then stepped into the shower to wash away the feeling of heaviness that had been weighing down on her since she pulled that trigger.


End file.
